Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,020,000 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the May 15th total of 3,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BIIB shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Biogen from $215.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Biogen in a report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Biogen from $355.00 to $277.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Biogen from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Biogen in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.50.

Biogen Stock Performance

BIIB traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $225.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 385,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,149,741. Biogen has a twelve month low of $189.44 and a twelve month high of $298.73. The stock has a market cap of $32.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.45 by $0.22. Biogen had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Biogen will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biogen

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Biogen by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Biogen by 235.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,204,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Biogen during the 1st quarter valued at $22,939,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Biogen during the first quarter worth about $2,846,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in shares of Biogen by 14.0% during the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. 87.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Biogen Company Profile

Biogen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers therapies for treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, Europe, Germany, Asia, and internationally. The company provides TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TYSABRI, and FAMPYRA for multiple sclerosis (MS); SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy; ADUHELM to treat Alzheimer's disease; FUMADERM to treat plaque psoriasis; BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL; IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA; FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE; and BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS.